Referees really haven't got back into the swing of things after their summer break! No red cards at all in the ten league matches and the two legs of the Spanish Supercup, and more surprisingly not even one penalty! Come on boys, take a leaf out of the book of Russian referee Mr. Ivanov who was in charge of Deportivo's Intertoto final at Olympique Marseille - he sent off Capdevila after giving him a yellow card for a foul which was actually committed by Toro Acuña, and allowed a goal by the French side when the forward used Romero as a jumping horse. Depor have sent an official complaint to UEFA, but one of their players said afterwards that Spanish referees were "Galacticos" compared to that. (30.08.05)

PS For those of you who haven't read our 2004/5 round up (shame on you), Losantos Omar and Carmona Méndez both hung up their whistles in the summer, and will be replaced by Ayza Gámez and Pérez Lima.